To be clear, I was never defending saying a prayer for the state. I was doing the opposite. On the idolatry issue, I don’t believe Zionism is idolatry. If you do consider it to be so, how would saying a Zionist prayer not be an act of idolatry?
Thinking something is pikuach nefesh doesn’t make it OK. The state likely thought they were somehow saving lives by bulldozing Jewish homes and destroying communities. So, holding all other things equal, to say that believing Israel has a right to exist is worse than venerating anti-Semitic tyrants is unreasonable in my opinion.